According to a study conducted by Turespaña on business tourism, the Spanish meetings and event industry is in good health despite the crisis. In 2007, approximately 25,800 meeting were held, 10,000 more than five years ago. Business tourism generated direct spending of 4,200 million euros, 2,000 million of which corresponded to foreign business tourists. In addition, the average stay increased from 0.77 to 1.14 days.
In 2007, in the region of 25,800 meetings were held with a total of four million attendees, up around one million on figures for 2002. It is important to note that of the two million foreign business tourists attending an event in Spain last year – nearly half of the total number of attendees – 1,100,000 were companions. In fact, three out of every 10 business tourists choose to travel with a companion. As regards hotel categories, 53% of all business tourists chose four-star accommodation, while 15% stayed at five-star hotels.
The results of the 8th Spanish Business Tourism Study, conducted in collaboration with the
Spain Convention Bureau, show that in 2007 business tourists spent on average 211 euros per day in cities with more than one million inhabitants, whereas average spending dropped to 92 euros per day in cities with between 500,000 and one million inhabitants. Average daily spending in Spain was 178 euros.
